The Azulle Quantum Access LAN Windows 10 Fanless Mini PC Stick ($139.99) is an all-in-one Windows desktop PC built into an impressively tiny body. Comparable in shape to an extra wide and long USB flash drive, the Quantum Access Stick is powered by a quad-core Atom processor and runs a 32-bit version of Windows 10. It’s similar to the latest Intel Compute Stick ($980.68 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window)  in design, feature set, and performance, but its main leg up is an Ethernet port, which can provide a faster and more reliable Web connection than Wi-Fi. The Compute Stick has its own advantages, though, such as slightly faster performance and two USB ports (one of which is USB 3.0), compared with the Quantum Access’ single USB 2.0 port. Azulle’s stick is $20 less, but choosing between the two largely depends on what you plan to use it for. The Shuttle XPC Nano($349.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window), is our top pick for budget desktops, and is a better compact PC choice if you’re not committed to the tiny stick form factor. It’s bigger and more expensive, but also more full-featured, and includes both multiple USB ports and Ethernet.

Design and Features
Like the Intel Compute Stick, the Quantum Access Stick is a slim black rectangle. The aesthetics are different though, with Azulle opting for a ribbed radial design, while the Intel stick carries a smoother matte black finish. The Quantum Access Stick is tiny for a PC, measuring just 0.72 by 1.54 by 4.94 inches (HWD). The dimensions are very similar to the slightly shorter and thinner Compute Stick (0.47 by 1.5 by 4.5 inches), but the difference is negligible, and both are extremely portable and will likely stay out of your way when plugged in. The Asus Chromebit ($127.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window)  is even smaller at 0.67 by 1.2 by 4.8 inches, since it only requires the power to run Chrome OS, a less demanding operating system than Windows.

Thicker at the back to fit the Ethernet port, the Quantum Access Stick tapers off toward the front of the device. There’s an antenna on its left side, which sticks out about another inch and can be positioned to point up, down, or out to the side for better wireless reception. The PC is fanless, so there are no vents on the body, as opposed to the Intel Stick’s visible vents on its top side. It does get fairly warm while running, but not hot enough to cause any problems in my testing.

The PC plugs directly into a monitor or TV through the HDMI connector on its front end. It’s powered by a micro-USB DC charging cable, so between that and the HDMI connection, setup is very simple. The length of the device could make for a bit of a tight squeeze depending on your setup (unlike the Compute Stick, no HDMI extension cable is included), but as long as there’s enough room behind your display, you can simply plug the stick in to an HDMI port and connect the power cable to an outlet. From there, just turn the device on with the power button located on the left side.

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There’s an Ethernet port on the back end of the stick, which accounts for most of the extra thickness. That LAN connection, absent from the latest Compute Stick, is nice to have, since you can get a much faster and more stable connection with an Ethernet cable than over Wi-Fi. The left side of the stick houses the micro-USB Power port, a USB 2.0 port, and a security lock slot. On the right side is just one slot, a micro SD/TF card reader. The Compute Stick has one USB 3.0 port and one USB 2.0 port, which means room an extra peripheral compared with the Quantum Access Stick, and USB 3.0 means faster transfer speeds.

The Quantum Access Stick features 802.11ac Wi-Fi (not dual-band) and Bluetooth 4.0. If a mouse or keyboard is occupying the single USB port, you’ll have to use Bluetooth to connect any other input devices you want to use at the same time.  There’s 32GB of eMMC flash storage on board, same as the Compute Stick and more than the Chromebit’s 16GB. Like Intel’s stick, only about 20GB of storage is free after accounting for Windows.

Performance
The Quantum Access Stick is powered by a 1.33 GHz quad-core Atom Z3735F processor, the same Bay Trail CPU in last year’s Intel Compute Stick ($980.68 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) . You also get Intel HD graphics and 2GB of memory, so benchmark scores aren’t stellar. The Quantum Access Stick still performed fairly similarly to the version of the Compute Stick, a good sign considering the slightly lower price. It scored 1,314 points on the PCMark 8 Work Conventional productivity test, just about matching the 2016 Compute Stick’s 1,324 point score. Both are well behind the larger, but still compact, Shuttle XPC Nano, which scored 2,052 points. The Quantum Access Stick finished the Handbrake test in 8 minutes 53 seconds, the exact same amount of time as the 2016 Compute Stick, while the XPC Nano completed it in 7:06.

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Unsurprisingly, none of these inexpensive mini PCs are suited to gaming. The Quantum Access Stick scored 1,096 points on the 3DMark Cloud Gate test, less than the Compute Stick’s 1,606 score; both were incapable of running the more demanding 3DMark Fire Strike Extreme test. The Quantum Access Stick was unable to push more than 3 frames per second (fps) on the Medium-quality settings Heaven and Valley graphics test, while the Compute Stick topped out at 6fps. Games on both devices looked more like slideshows on the Ultra-quality settings of the Heaven and Valley test. The larger XPC Nano scored a bit better on the Cloud Gate test, but did not reach playable frame rates on Heaven and Valley either. Expect to play simple games, nothing more. 

Conclusion
A fully functional Windows 10 PC in such a small body is just as impressive here as it is with the Intel Compute Stick. The differences between the two are relatively minor, with pros and cons to each. Azulle’s PC is $20 less expensive and features LAN support and a fanless design, while the Compute Stick offers an extra USB port, including a faster USB 3.0 connection. If your Internet speed is important, you can’t beat the reliability of fast, wired connection. If you’re confident in (or unconcerned with) the stability of your connection, the slightly faster 2016 Compute Stick can also support an extra peripheral like a mouse and keyboard simultaneously, or a mouse and external hard drive. Both are competent, tiny machines suited to general computing including basic productivity, Web browsing, and the like. The Shuttle XPC Nano remains our Editors’ Choice budget desktop, an alternative worth considering if you can go a little bigger and want a fuller feature set. If you’re looking to go mobile, the also-small InFocus Kangaroo Mobile Desktop( at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) has its own battery making it truly portable.